Published: August 26, 2008 01:49 pm            

ROOT: Olympics went off without a hitch

Prior to the Summer Olympics there were dozens of stories in the news about how horrible it was going to be to have China host the Olympics. Stories ranging from oppressive actions on the part of the government to smog that was so thick the athletes might not be able to breathe were popping up on almost a daily basis for months. There were even stories suggesting that the facilities were not going to be finished in time and that included the Olympic stadium known as the Bird’s Nest.

Doesn’t it make you wonder how so much can be made of how horrible something will be and then it goes off without a hitch? I don’t know about you but I was expecting athletes to be dropping like flies from the smog and then some athletes suddenly disappearing into the Chinese prison system for no apparent reason. It never happened and it looks like these Olympic games are going to go off without a hitch.

This happens every Olympics except for the ones hosted by an American city. Prior to the 2004 Olympics in Athens there were stories by journalists convinced that there was no way the Olympic village or the main stadium would even be close to done by opening ceremonies. But yet the Athens Olympics went off without a hitch and once again the Chicken Littles in the American media were made to look like the paranoid rabble that they are. 

I have to admit though that I was kind of hoping for some drama other than the athletic type in these Olympics. To this point the stories coming out of China have been nothing but positive and either the Chinese really did round up all the trouble makers and lock them up or they were able to put on a nice face for the world for these couple of weeks.

But still, it would have been kind of neat to see the marathon canceled because of smog or the rowing events postponed while they clean the mysterious green sludge out of the water ways surrounding Beijing. I don’t want to see any one hurt, I just want to see some drama that involves another classic Chinese “there is nothing to see here” press conference.

It is all the media’s fault. They build up the potential disaster so much that I was really expecting something to go wrong. Instead we get American swimming champions and a Jamaican that breaks a world record with such a show that the rest of the world is shocked that he is so proud of himself. With a name like Bolt the guy was destined to break some record. Gymnasts made it look easy and the women’s volleyball team made it easy to look at. These Olympics were everything the athletes were hoping for and nothing the doomsayers were predicting. I really hate that.

I think that in 2012 the media should be banned from the host city until the opening ceremonies start in London. God knows that I don’t think I can take months of anticipating the collapse of the Olympic stadium due to shoddy workmanship or the possibility that the fog in England could consume our marathon runners.

This is more than just my usual tirade against the 24 hour news networks, this is yet another example of how the world would be such a better place if there wasn’t this burning need to watch and report on everything, every day, every hour of the day. Was it really necessary to turn every challenge the Chinese came upon into the next great crisis that could ruin the 2008 Summer Olympics? What is this need for drama in the news ranks? I don’t get it. Is this supposed to be the news or an Oscar nominated broadcast?

Maybe that is why I get all of my real news from places like The Daily Show. At least with Jon Stewart everything is a joke like it is supposed to be. I can’t help but think that if the popular media didn’t turn everything into a crisis then there would not be so many uptight people in the world. Then again if there weren’t so many people like me that were waiting for Olympic stadiums to crash to the ground then the drama would not be so effective.

Either way I just cannot win.

George N. Root III is a Lockport resident. His column runs every Wednesday. He blogs at http://www.rootsworld.wordpress.com. Send comments to georgeroot@verizon.net.

        

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